USF football heads to Atlanta on Saturday to take on Georgia Tech. This game takes place one day shy of a year from their last meeting in Tampa.
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The University of South Florida Bulls will visit the Georgia Tech University Yellow Jackets on Saturday, September 7th. This game, the second-ever between the two programs, will serve as a rematch for last season’s 49-38 win by the Bulls in Tampa.
Both teams finished 2018 with a 7-6 record, capped off with a bowl game loss. The Yellow Jackets lost 34-10 to Minnesota in the Quick Lane Bowl, while the Bulls fell to Marshall in the Gasparilla Bowl. They also have both made significant coaching changes in the offseason. After the retirement of former head coach, Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech hired former Temple head coach, Geoff Collins, who brought in his own staff. For USF, they brought in former Valdosta State head coach, Kerwin Bell, to replace Sterlin Gilbert as offensive coordinator. Bell’s Valdosta State team won the Division II National Championship in 2018.
Collins was head coach at Temple during the 2017 and 2018 seasons and linebackers coach in 2008-2009 at UCF, where his team suffered a 31-24 loss to the Bulls. The Bulls gave his Owls an embarrassing 43-7 beating in 2017, but Collins and company returned the favor with a 27-17 victory over USF, last season.
USF Offense
Bell, who was a four year starter at quarterback for the Florida Gators, also played professional football for 14 years, to include stints with the Falcons, Buccaneers, and Colts as well as several Canadian teams. He brings into the USF offense a pro-style philosophy with some spread influence.
Blake Barnett, a graduate transfer and former five star recruit who started his career at Alabama and graduated from Arizona State, is in his second year as USF quarterback. His first season had mixed results, in part due to injuries. He passed for 2,710 total yards, 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, last season, and led the team to a 7-0 start, which included several come-from-behind victories. Against the Yellow Jackets, last season, Barnett passed for 207 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
The Bulls ranked 55th, nationally in 2018, in passing offense, averaging 244 yards per game. Mustering just 109 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in the first game of the season against Wisconsin, the Bulls are currently 113th in passing offense.
The Bulls return two of their top three receivers in Randall St. Felix and tight end, Mitchell Wilcox. St. Felix had three catches for 21 yards in week 1, while Wilcox had just one catch for 11 yards. This season, the Bulls’ staff have moved former running back, Johnny Ford, into the slot receiver position. Ford did not play in the first game for undisclosed administrative reasons. Running back, Jordan Cronkrite, also got a few passes thrown his way in the first game of the season, catching three for a team high of 23 yards. With just 131 passing yards in the first week, USF sits at 113th in passing offense. In fall camps, coaches said that walk-on receiver, Bryce Miller, would also play a significant role in the offense.
Cronkrite will be the feature back again in 2019. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards, last season, but struggled with the rest of the offense in the first game of this season, carrying the ball just six times for nine yards. Last year, Ford had significant rushing yards in a backup role, logging nearly 800 yards. This year, it will likely be Trevon Sands playing number two at running back. The Bulls currently rank 126th in rushing offense, with just 26 yards.
Against Georgia Tech in 2018, the Bulls rushed for 219 total yards and three touchdowns. Barnett led the team with 91 yards, followed by Duran Bell, who had 69. Bell now plays for Alabama State. Cronkrite ran for 39 yards on nine carries.
Georgia Tech Defense
The Yellow Jacket defense gave up 52 points in week one. Ordinarily, one would think that’s a poor defensive performance. However, that was #1 Clemson lined up on the other side of the line of scrimmage. It was also the first game under new defensive coordinator, Andrew Thacker. Thacker served under Geoff Collins at Temple in 2018. In that one season with the Owls, they led the nation in defensive touchdowns (8) and third in forced turnovers (31). Also noteworthy, they tied for fifth in interceptions (18) and recovered fumbles (13).
Georgia Tech did not excel on defense in 2018. They ranked 79th in scoring defense (29 p.p.g). Temple gave up almost as many points per game (27), ranking them 66th, nationally.
To their credit, the Yellow Jackets did rank 20th in turnover margin, which was a combination of extremely low turnovers by the offense (17) and gaining turnovers on defense (25). Part of the turnover margin may be skewed by the low passing attempts (126) resulting in just four interceptions.
Georgia Tech allowed 212 passing yards per game (50th) and 158 rushing yards per game. They gave up exactly the same number of rushing and passing touchdowns in 2018 (22).
Graduation has cost the unit their top three team leaders in tackles. Fourth and fifth on that list, Tariq Carpenter and Charlie Thomas, are back. Defensive back, Kaleb Oliver, tied with Carpenter and Thomas in week one with six total tackles. Oliver caught an interception in the Clemson game.
Middle linebacker, David Curry, should be a also be a factor. He had six tackles against USF, last season, before being ejected for targeting. Curry had five tackles against Clemson.
Against the Tigers, the Yellow Jackets’ defense managed four sacks and eight tackles for loss. For perspective, that’s nearly ¼ of their total sacks for last season (13). That’s quite an improvement, and against the #1 team in the nation. Last season, they ranked 116th in sacks and 122nd tackles for loss (54).
Georgia Tech Offense
Just like the defense, the offense is a bit of a mystery for this team, right now. After years of running variations of wishbone offenses, the Yellow Jackets are trying to transition to a more typical pro-style.
Dave Patenaude is the new offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech. In 2018, his second year with the Owls, Patenaude built the 23rd best scoring offense in the country, averaging nearly 35 points per game. Temple’s play calls favored running the ball (52%), but their production came primarily through the air (62%).
Collins has been reported as saying that the team will continue to use three quarterbacks until one emerges as the leader. Using the Clemson game as a guideline, fans can expect to see mostly James Graham and Tobias Oliver with a little Lucas Johnson thrown in. Oliver had the most reps in the game at quarterback, with nine passing attempts and 20 rushes. Graham had less attempts (7), but more overall passing yards (72) and the only passing touchdown of the game. He also ran four times for 15 yards gained. Oliver’s 56 yards rushing was second on the team only to running back, Jordan Mason, who ran for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Since they didn’t throw much, there isn’t much to report on receivers. Jerry Howard Jr., led the unit with 57 yards on two catches. Receivers, Josh Blancato, Ahmarean Brown, and Malachi Carter all had one catch apiece. The same was true for tight end Tyler Davis and running back, Mason. Of those five, only Carter and Mason accumulated receiving stats, last year, and they were insignificant, totaling less than five catches. Davis, a graduate transfer from UConn, is expected to play a big role in the offense. He accounted for 237 yards of offense and six touchdowns for the Huskies. For perspective, that’s more than 10% of total receiving yardage and a sixth of the team’s 20 touchdowns.
Georgia Tech currently ranks 111th for passing offense (137 y.p.g), 73rd in rushing offense (157 y.p.g.), and 104th in total offense (294 y.p.g.)
USF Defense
In the offseason, head coach, Charlie Strong, made a concerted effort to rebuild one of the worst offenses in the country by hiring supposed offensive guru, Bell. However, not significant changes have been made to what was one of the worst defenses in the nation and program history. The coaching staff on defense remains pretty much intact, with defensive coordinator, Brian Jean-Mary calling the shots.
In his second season, last year, the Bulls ranked 104th in total defense, allowing an average of almost 447 yards per game on defense. Allowing an average of 32 points per game, they ranked just 94th in the nation. They were respectable against the pass, 32nd with an average of 199 yards per game, but that’s mostly because their run defense allowed an average of 234 yards per game, the 115th worst average in the game.
Last season’s run woes were largely due to depth issues at middle linebacker. Auggie Sanchez graduated and was replaced by Nico Sawtelle, who spent much of last season sidelined with injuries. The Bulls were so desperate that they moved defensive end, Greg Reaves, to middle linebacker. This season, Reaves is back at home at end, but Sawtelle remains out indefinitely for aggravating old injuries. The good news for USF fans is that graduate transfer, Patrick Macon, looks up to the task. In his debut against Wisconsin, the Oklahoma State alum and former four star recruit logged 15 total tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and four tackles for loss.
The defensive secondary has experience, but they haven’t done much this season. The Bulls are currently 65th against the pass, allowing 201 yards to Wisconsin. Nick Roberts and Mike Hampton should be solid once other aspects of the defense come together. On the line, look for Kirk Livingstone and Greg Reaves to make quarterbacks uncomfortable.
Expectations
Flip a coin on this one in almost every aspect of the game. Both teams are full of question marks and have talent enough to be good. New coaching philosophies will take some time to be implemented and growing pains are to be expected. When it comes down to it, though, Georgia Tech can still run the football, and they will. USF still struggles to stop the run, allowing two 35+ touchdown runs to Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor, without a single green uniformed player touching him. Expect the Yellow Jackets to run almost as much as they want. The Bulls are probably going to get their offense started this week. It’s hard to judge the passing defense of Georgia Tech when the only game they have played is against the supposed best team in the country. Expect improvements in both the run game and the passing game. Most likely modest numbers, but a sign of things to come.
Summary
Georgia Tech remains a six point favorite at home, which suggests that the odds makers expect a close game. The over / under of 60 sounds just about right for where these teams are right now. ESPN’s Football Power Index computers predict a 72% chance of a Yellow Jackets win. The game kicks off at 2 PM EDT, with television available only on the ACC Network.
